Earplugs Are Insanely Painful to Put In/Take Out

[Foamearplugssuck]

Hey all,

I recently lost my pair of nice custom westone earplugs. As I live in a very loud city, I basically have to wear earplugs whenever I step outside and whenever I take public transit. Thus, I've been using foam earplugs as I really have no other choice.

However, ear plugs are becoming excruciatingly painful to insert and pull out, to the point where I tear up and basically have to yelp to get through it. I'm unsure what to do about this though, because I have to wear earplugs to get around.

Does anyone have any tips or experience with this? Do I just have overly sensitive ear canals?

 

[TheDanishGirl]

I get sore real quick when wearing ear plugs too. Muffs are more comfortable.

 

[Daniel Lion]

Hey all,

I recently lost my pair of nice custom westone earplugs. As I live in a very loud city, I basically have to wear earplugs whenever I step outside and whenever I take public transit. Thus, I've been using foam earplugs as I really have no other choice.

However, ear plugs are becoming excruciatingly painful to insert and pull out, to the point where I tear up and basically have to yelp to get through it. I'm unsure what to do about this though, because I have to wear earplugs to get around.

Does anyone have any tips or experience with this? Do I just have overly sensitive ear canals?

Try ear muffs... don't be shy. Give your ear canals a well deserved rest.

 

[Michael B]

I wear earplugs when needed and never have pain. Pain is an indication of a problem. You may want to run that by your doc.

 

[MRItechssuck]

Your ear canals are skin and cartilage... so the ear plugs are just causing irritation. Could you try petroleum jelly... or some other lubricant, to ease the irritation to the skin?

However... pull the earplugs out slowly due to the suction that may be created with any lubricant.

Using muffs as much as you can will help, but then you might get a headache from the clamping force.

Good luck.

 

[Pawel1]

could there be a problem with foam ear plugs, rather than molded ear plugs? i never tried molded ones, but i heard that they're not as irritating as foam ear plugs. maybe try silicone ear plugs + some noise cancelling headphones, without even turning the noise cancelling option on, or something like that.

i wish you good luck and i wish myself good luck with this problem, because i have it too, sometimes.

 

[PeteJ]

Hey all,

I recently lost my pair of nice custom westone earplugs. As I live in a very loud city, I basically have to wear earplugs whenever I step outside and whenever I take public transit. Thus, I've been using foam earplugs as I really have no other choice.

However, ear plugs are becoming excruciatingly painful to insert and pull out, to the point where I tear up and basically have to yelp to get through it. I'm unsure what to do about this though, because I have to wear earplugs to get around.

Does anyone have any tips or experience with this? Do I just have overly sensitive ear canals?

Are you able to get the Westone's? I have a pain problem with foam plugs, too. I have pain after wearing them for a short period of time and it was worse months ago when wearing plugs.

What kind of foam plugs are you wearing? Some are worse than others and some are easier to insert or remove. Can you buy or find Howard Leight Laser Lite plugs? They have an end that 'sticks out' and most have this shape but they are not really hard either. I still have pain from wearing but I am careful when removing. Go slow and pinch the end sticking out of your and twist it slowly until the entire plug comes out.

You insert plugs by rolling them up and insert it slowly and wait a bit for the plug to resume its original shape. Don't use any force when inserting, just slowly and wait for it to expand and resume shape in the ear

I am no expert but maybe those ideas will help?

Try to go back to customs if you can.

 

[Digital Doc]

Ear muffs until your ears heal.

 

[Bobby B]

Solid silicone plugs sprayed with ethanol to ease insertion and avoid ear infections.

 

[Foamearplugssuck]

could there be a problem with foam ear plugs, rather than molded ear plugs? i never tried molded ones, but i heard that they're not as irritating as foam ear plugs. maybe try silicone ear plugs + some noise cancelling headphones, without even turning the noise cancelling option on, or something like that.

i wish you good luck and i wish myself good luck with this problem, because i have it too, sometimes.

I had molded earplugs, and they never bothered me. It's just something I experience with the foam ones. I've been wearing noise cancelling headphones to get some protection when I walk on noisy streets, and I've only been wearing foam plugs when I absolutely have to--basically when I'm taking the subway.

 

[Foamearplugssuck]

Are you able to get the Westone's? I have a pain problem with foam plugs, too. I have pain after wearing them for a short period of time and it was worse months ago when wearing plugs.

What kind of foam plugs are you wearing? Some are worse than others and some are easier to insert or remove. Can you buy or find Howard Leight Laser Lite plugs? They have an end that 'sticks out' and most have this shape but they are not really hard either. I still have pain from wearing but I am careful when removing. Go slow and pinch the end sticking out of your and twist it slowly until the entire plug comes out.

You insert plugs by rolling them up and insert it slowly and wait a bit for the plug to resume its original shape. Don't use any force when inserting, just slowly and wait for it to expand and resume shape in the ear

I am no expert but maybe those ideas will help?

Try to go back to customs if you can.

I had the westone's but I lost them. I put them in my backpack and then they were...not there. My audiologist is trying to see if they can get them for me a discount, but I'll have to tough it out until then. They were really nice though. I never had an issue with them.

I've been using the mack's earplugs in the smallest "girly" size, but even then I have difficulty inserting them because my ear canals are that narrow. I haven't seen the leight laser lite earplugs, but I'll definitely look for them! thanks for the advice.

 

[PeteJ]

I had the westone's but I lost them. I put them in my backpack and then they were...not there. My audiologist is trying to see if they can get them for me a discount, but I'll have to tough it out until then. They were really nice though. I never had an issue with them.

I've been using the mack's earplugs in the smallest "girly" size, but even then I have difficulty inserting them because my ear canals are that narrow. I haven't seen the leight laser lite earplugs, but I'll definitely look for them! thanks for the advice.

I think my ear canals are narrow too. I haven't found any good plugs yet but the laser lites are the only ones that I can deal with now. I still have discomfort sometimes and the loudness of the tinnitus make wearing any plugs hell.

Can you put custom plugs on a string like a necklace? I wouldn't want expensive plugs being loose myself even if they were in a case. At least, not when leaving my place.

 

[Pawel1]

I had the westone's but I lost them. I put them in my backpack and then they were...not there. My audiologist is trying to see if they can get them for me a discount, but I'll have to tough it out until then. They were really nice though. I never had an issue with them.

I've been using the mack's earplugs in the smallest "girly" size, but even then I have difficulty inserting them because my ear canals are that narrow. I haven't seen the leight laser lite earplugs, but I'll definitely look for them! thanks for the advice.

Hey. I have foam ear plugs that seem to block out about 30-35 decibels. Can molded ear plugs be as effective in sound blocking, or not? for me, it looks like foam ear plugs fit much tighter to the ear, therefore they seem to block out the most sound.

 

[Juan]

Hey. I have foam ear plugs that seem to block out about 30-35 decibels. Can molded ear plugs be as effective in sound blocking, or not? for me, it looks like foam ear plugs fit much tighter to the ear, therefore they seem to block out the most sound.

Foam earplugs block more sound, in my opinion.

 

[Luman]

A pair of noise cancelling headphones is fine for walking around a noisy city. They don't have to be an expansive premium name brand, I have a pair that cost under 100 bucks, which work very well, including in the subway and other noisy environments.

 

[RichardGuy]

A pair of noise cancelling headphones is fine for walking around a noisy city. They don't have to be an expansive premium name brand, I have a pair that cost under 100 bucks, which work very well, including in the subway and other noisy environments.

Noise cancelling headphones do not offer actual protection as ear plugs and muffs do.

 

[Yuuls]

This happened to me when I wore foam plugs when I went to bed. My outer ear area got super sensitive and almost scaly for a few days and was crazy itchy. No ear infection though. I think it mostly happened because I have small ear canals and the foam plugs I was using were too big. I would regularly wake up in the middle of the night from slight ear pain (I'm a side sleeper so the pressure was causing the pain I think).

The only thing that made it feel better was giving them up for a while

Maybe try getting smaller more delicate plugs? They sell foam ones at stores like CVS that are specifically for small ear canals and I find those way more comfortable. They're bright pink but they are more bell shaped and fit easier. Target sells Blue "sensitive" ones but those are too big, and those standard flesh colored ones irritate my ears like no other.

 

[PeteJ]

Maybe the OP solved the problem? Didn't follow up?

Howard Laser Leight plugs are comfortable as foam plugs go.

I can wear those but my t is so intrusive and loud now that it's the tinnitus that is the problem with plugs, not the foam plugs themselves anymore. The tinnitus is not masked while wearing ear plugs so I can't wear them for very long or I will want to jump off a building or stab myself to death.

When is there going to be a treatment that reduces the tinnitus volume, that reduces the tones or reduces the intrusiveness - which is the high pitch, loud ringing and crazy tempo of tones?

It's torture and I can't wear hearing protection for more than a minute or two because of how bad it is.

 

[Tisyuck]

I was also experiencing massive pain when wearing earplugs. Led to me injuring my ear. I talked about it in another post.